Overlay Syndrome
by Vazura
Summary: Jenny discovers the strange alternate world set beside her own, and discovers that sometimes your greatest enemy…is yourself!
1. The Dream

_Hey all, this is my first MLAATR fic, in fact, it's my first fic ever, and it was just on the spur of the moment, so feel free to criticize it._

_Comments and complements will be welcomed with open arms, constructive criticism will be appreciated, and flames will be ignored._

I do not own MLAATR, or any other such cartoons that may be mentioned.

Reality...how do we define something so universal, so all consuming.

Imagine, if you will, that there are an infinite number of universes, anyone could be identical to any other, or different by but a single partial, or be as different as to have different laws of physics.

Normally, they would be far apart, but suppose one of the universes overlapped with another, just long enough for ...something... to cross over. It is a rare occurrence, but it could happen.

So, now we join our dear Jenny, enjoying another night of sleep mode, here dream chip functioning normally, when this whole mess begins.

Jenny was up, it was about 1:23 am, and she was down in the kitchen drinking down a fresh oil (she had been running low).

As she headed back upstairs, something moved out of the corner of her eye.

"Who's there?" Jenny said

There was no answer, nor was there anyone there

"I know I saw someone, and mom wouldn't be up now..."

Thinking her dream chip may be acting up, she headed off to bed, and switched into sleep mode.

That night, Jenny's dreams were far from pleasant, she found herself in what looked like a ruined version of Tremorton, rubble strewed about everywhere, and many buildings were in rubble, or gone all together. Even the sky itself seemed tainted, and was a harsh crimson tint. The plants in the park all seemed dead, and there were no animals to be found.

"What is going on here? This can't really be Tremorton, can it?"

Not knowing what else to do, she looked for her house.

Jenny ignited here pigtail jets and headed to her house only to find it burnt to the ground, there was no sign of here mother.

"MOM!" Jenny rushed forward, and began tearing through the rubble, looking for here mother.

She found her...

The sight of a corps, more than 2 years old, and clad in the clothes of here mother was too much for Jenny, she knelt down and wept tears of oil.

A while later, and still crying, she sat up, and said "I am going to find out what is going on here, no matter what!"

She set off to the one other person she could truly turn to, and walked over to Brads house. Thankfully it was still in one peace, but it looked horrible, its windows were all boarded, and it looked like no one had lived there for years.

Not knowing what else to do, she headed in. the door broke off it's hinges, and it had nothing to do with her strength.

The whole house was in shambles; it looked like a hurricane had hit indoors. After searching a bit, she came to the living room. She headed toward the table, and saw a picture of Brad, Tuck, and there parents, all looking happy. She picked it up, saw the broken frame on the ground, and noticed something on the back.

It looked like someone had taped a note to the back. Jenny took it off and saw it was the same kind of paper that Brad always put in his notebook. The words were scrawled in a hurry. She read aloud: "it's too late, we couldn't stop it, couldn't bring her back. Now there is nothing left, and I can only wait for the end. May god have mercy on all of our miserable souls"

"What is going on here?!?" she exclaimed, shocked at the things she was seeing

Before she could do anything else, a small figure darted out of the shadows, snatched the note and picture from here hand, and dashed out the back door, looking back only once, and then racing away.

Jenny had been too shocked to do or say anything. She had never seen that person before, but she remembered those eyes, and that terrified expression...

"Tuck?"

To be continued...

Well? Good? Bad? Please review, I need to know if I have anything going for me.


	2. The Nightmare

Hey all, I liked doing the last chapter; I decided to make another one right away, hope you enjoy it!

Jenny looked for the boy, but could not find him. She wonders if it really had been Tuck she saw, he could not possibly have been...could he?

"Well, there is nothing more to do but figure out what is going on here" she said

Jenny decided that she should head to the center of the city, hoping to get some help.

Stepping forward, she lit her pigtail jets and flew off, she never saw the pair of eyes looking out from the bushes.

Much more of the devastation was visible from the air, and the most suspicious thing was that a weapon did not cause most of it; it was like the buildings had been ripped apart by a set of strange appendages.

Jenny decided to stop at the carnival, it was on the way to the heart of the city, and she was hoping to find some people there.

After a few minutes looking, she was starting to panic. 'Isn't there anyone left?' she thought.

Just then, she heard a loud crash coming from the room of mirrors, so she called out "hello? Who's there? I'm not going to hurt you!"

After a moment of waiting, Jenny figured that no one was going to answer, so she headed inside.

It was rather spooky, walking among the partially broken mirrors in the dark, and Jenny could not help but feel that she was being watched.

After a while, she found herself walking along a long hallway, with mirrors all along the right side. She walked along watching her reflection in each one, trying to think. "Who could have done all this."

"Why, you could, dear sister" the reflection said back.

Jenny jumped in surprise, and then she saw she was not looking at a mirror, but a copy of herself!

In every way, it was identical to her, save for a few small details, like the soul-piercing stare she cave, the cruel grin, and the blood on her hand.

BLOOD?

Slowly, and with her copy watching with an amused smile, she looked down...and saw the body.

It was Brad...

Jenny's world stopped, it felt like her CPU was going to explode trying to process what she had seen. He was definitely dead, his throat ripped open. Brad's lifeless body stared off into space, a look of shock on his face.

After what seemed like forever, she silently croaked out the one word: "why?"

"Because humans are weak and inferior, and worthless, and it was a test of my master to see if I was truly loyal to him, like what I did with Mrs. Wakeman!"

That was the breaking point; Jenny threw her fist at her copy...and shattered the mirror.

"What? But...she was just here! I saw here!"

Not sure what to do, she put her hand to the mirror, unsure what to believe now.

It was solid, and there was nothing behind it.

Still trying to get all that he had seen out of her head, Jenny flew to the center of town.

As she went, she saw strange cables everywhere, and they all seemed to be centering on the city's core.

Finally, Jenny reached the city's center, and saw...

It could not be described accurately, it was as if a madman had sculpted a machine, and stopped halfway through. It was a writhing, twisting mass of wires and metal, over 200 feet tall. Hundreds of cables running from many of the more intact buildings ran into it's body at all angles. At the very top, an almost humanoid torso, arms, and head rested, looking this way and that, atop a stalk of wires and metal.

Jenny had never been so scared in her whole life, she could not even move, just a single thought went through her mind: 'please, please, don't let it see me'

Suddenly, the thing spun around, and saw her.

Right AT HER! Looking right AT HER!

For some reason, the fact that it saw her was worse that anything that she had ever faced before then.

It saw her. It saw her! IT SAW HER!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

To be continued...

_Well, how did this one work for you?_


	3. The Next Day

_Hey everyone, thanks for the attention, I appreciate it, oh and forgot to say this last chapter: CoyoteLoon reviewed my fic! My favorite MLAATR author! YES! I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!_

_Anyway, the story is taking a turn for the "slightly less creepy", but don't expect it to last, I'm even thinking of changing it to a horror fic in title, considering what is coming._

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Jenny awoke with a start, her CPU feeling overloaded due to the nightmare.

"Man! What an awful dream, and it felt so real!" she exclaimed. She shuttered as the images came back to her again.

She glanced around at her perfectly normal room (or at least as normal as any teenage superhero robots room can be) and got up. The monitors that alerted her if there was any danger she had to avert were silent, her clock read 5:34 am, and her mother seemed to be unaware of her screaming.

"That woman can sleep through anything!" Jenny exclaimed, crossing her arms.

Jenny got out of bed, and stretched her joints, it was WAY to early for the bus, and her mom was probably still asleep. Not knowing what else to do, she headed downstairs.

Once she was down, she went into the bathroom and put on her makeup (metal polish) headed into the kitchen, had a bole of nails for breakfast (no really, she had a bole of nails) and read one of her magazines to pass the extra time.

Her house looked, as it should, and no horrid specters to scare her, and the house wasn't a pile of rubble, always a good sign.

Jenny then thought to herself 'I must have drank some tainted oil or something, I've never dreamed of a ruined Tremorton, or people I know being dead at my hand, or that...thing.'

Jenny shudder at that last though, still not sure why that last specter had such an effect on her.

"XJ-9! My goodness, what are you doing up so early?" said her mom, who had just come downstairs.

"Nothing mom, just had a nightmare, is all."

Mrs. Wakeman looked puzzled at this "A nightmare? But that is impossible, I upgraded your dream chip recently with countermeasures against that, along with a failsafe to keep you from dreaming during the day...again."

Jenny cringed at that particularly embarrassing moment, when she had done her on personal style of daydreaming and wrecked a whole bunch of stuff, her mother still got miffed whenever the subject of dreams came up with her.

"I'd best run a diagnostic, and the school bus is not due for a while, so we have plenty of time"

Jenny sighed, and submitted herself to her mothers checking. 'Not how I was thinking of spending my morning.' She thought.

After a thorough examination in the lab, and a long wait while the computer compiled the data, Mrs. Wakeman finally said "this is strange, according to this, there is nothing wrong with you, but it says that at some point at night, you simply disappeared!"

Jenny was thoroughly confused "what do you mean 'I just disappeared'?" she stated "how could I have?"

Mrs. Wakeman took a deep breath, and started "I mean, that around 1:23 am, your data logs stop, it's like you stopped existing during that time, but the security camera in your room shows nothing wrong, you were there all night!"

Jenny grumbled, she hated that camera, it drove her nuts, and her mom had refused to take it down. The news of her missing data logs was more important, however, because 1:23 am was when the dream started.

After jenny had explained this, Mrs. Wakeman looked thoughtful, and said "well, there is a lot of extra data to go through here, you head off to school, I'll see you when you get back and hopefully have something more then"

Jenny was glad to have something else to think about, so she rushed out of the lab with a quick "Thankalotmomseeyoulater!"

Jenny was just in time for the bus, and gratefully walked on it, happy to have everything back to normal. In the back of her mind she knew she should have told her mom about the dream itself, but that would have meant reliving it again.

Brad had saved her a seat, which she gratefully took, and they smiled at each other.

Jenny was happy for the first time all day.

...

Meanwhile, Mrs. Wakeman was still getting over the shock of having xj-9 buzz out of there like that.

"Sigh! Teenagers, I should have just made a robot dog"

Not having anything else to do, she went back to work, unaware of the fly-sized robot watching her from the ceiling

To be continued...

_Wow, this is really fur to make, I love this fic! Thanks to the people who reviewed this fic (especially you, CoyoteLoon!)_

_I cannot say I am as good as some of the other MLAATR fic writers, like CoyoteLoon, (duh!) Queenbean3, La miseria y la muerte, or those others, but I think I can hold my own, so send in those reviews; I have low self-esteem and need attention! _

_Oh yea, I'm not gonna do any more disclaimers, one was enough, so there!_

_See you, Space Cowboy!_


	4. The Sign

_Hey all, hope your having a good time; I know I am, so I decided to personally reply to all reviews in the order that they were received. Since I did not do this for reviews for previous chapters, I will do so now:_

_Chapter one reviews:_

-Star-Kitten-The-Rebel-Cyborg:

-That is good! clapclapclap Very good! Please carry on!

_Thanks person with the long name, I shall indeed carry on!_

-TehRindesayu (Anonymous):

-Oh! Continue!

_Trust me, I will...thanks!_

-Delta X

-Good opening, but this is going to be a crossover of this fandom and what other ones? I think that Mega Man X, Final Fantasy 7 or 10, and Inuyasha would be good places to start off. This has a potential, so keep it up!

_There might be a crossover, not sure yet though, (making it up as I go along) but I have one or two in mind. As for what they are, well...that would be telling, now wouldn't it? ;)_

-CoyoteLoon

- Creepy opening, kind of sad too, with the discovery of poor Mrs. W. Let's see where you go from here.  
-Don't be afraid to use more description in your narrative, especially when you're setting up a scene with a new location. The more senses you describe (what do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste?) the more vivid your story will be.  
Keep going!

_Thanks for the advice; I'll try my best. And yea, I was going for the "uber-creepy" opening._

_Chapter two reviews:_

_None..._

..._I feel so alone..._

_Chapter three reviews:_

-CoyoteLoon:

-Yikes, I feel like a need to leave a review to thank you for liking my review. (Uh, did that make sense?)  
-The classic "It was all a dream" scenario (or WAS it? dun dun DUN...) Kudos on setting up some plot and foreshadowing! Now we're left to wonder how Jenny could "disappear" and not disappear at the same time ... and what's up with the bug robot?  
I'm glad you're enjoying your writing! I wouldn't do it if it wasn't any fun. And you will get better the more you do it. So DO IT! Go on! Write! Go!

_Yea, I always liked that "It was all a dream" thing, and that "dun dun DUN..." was more well placed than you know. As to the disappear issue, that will be revealed soon enough. The bug robot is a bit of a plot point, and that's all I'm going to tell you. I find that I love writing this thing, and I believe it will get better, and: YES SIR! WRITING SIR!_

-La miseria y la muerte

-"I cannot say I am as good as some of the other MLAATR fic writers, like CoyoteLoon, (duh!) Queenbean3, La miseria y la muerte, or those others,! " Me? XD  
  
-Okay, well, very good job on this fic! I noticed this is your first story. Keep going at it! I just love seeing the n00bs... I know so many that started out with terrible fics, and now they're amazing authors/authoresses!

_Yes, you! XD _

_And thanks for the encouragement, it helps a lot._

_Thanks for all your reviews, and it was actually fun and helpful to answer them coughwordcountcough_

_Anyway, on with the fic, and send in those reviews, they rock:_

Jenny decided to make some light conversation with brad: "so, anything new going on that I missed on the bus?"

Brad smiled and said "well you know, just the usual gossip, the mean stuff some jerks say about you seems to have almost disappeared, except for the crust cousins rumors." He said with a frown.

Jenny was not truly upset by this, it was not much more then she expected, they had never truly excepted her, and the fact that only THEY were beating on her was great news.

"Anything else?" she asked, leaning back in her seat.

Brad thought for a second, looking deep in thought, it did not suit him. "Well, there is all the nightmares everyone has been having..."

...

Meanwhile...

_(Don't you just HATE me?)_

Mrs. Wakeman looked over the data, but it still made no sense.

At last, and after quite a lot of frustration, she threw her hands up in the air in exasperation and shouted "ARGH! This is insane! Just when I think I have something, I prove myself wrong! It's like someone doesn't WANT me to find anything out." The thought crossed her mind briefly, but she brushed it off as a sign of fatigue.

"Oh, all this stress cannot be good for my heart...best I take a breather" groaning, she sat up and headed into the living room. She flopped down on the couch, grabbed the remote, and flipped the TV on. Seeing that the TV was on something called "MTV 2" she flipped over to the science channel, and started to relax.

Had she stayed at the monitor for a moment longer, she may have spotted the screen flickering, displaying a short message, than changing back, with no sign of any change.

The message said quite simply:

ALL WILL SUFFER

...

In a distant, dark land, there was a dark city, and within that, was a still darker abomination of endless metal.

A figure entered a hidden chamber, the walls appeared to be made of machinery, and the sound of mechanics' was everywhere. She knelt before a moving and twisting shape.

#Report# it stated, in a voice that would make any normal person cringe, it sounded like metal plates being twisted, and it just might have been that.

The figure did not so much as flinch; she was use to her master's appearance and voice.

"The last of the rebellion has been crushed, it's remains scattered across the globe, off to lick their wounds"

#Good, and what of our "prisoners"#

"They are all performing normally, just as we hoped. The interface is optimal"

#Excellent, and our little project?#

"It will be done soon, the tests have already begun"

#Good, you may go now#

"Yes master, as you said earlier, all will suffer!" Jenny stated

To be continued...

dun dun DUN!

_Hope you like it so far, we got a ways to go, but it's looking good so far_

_So send in those reviews, or I'll feed you pets to the mysterious villain...I'll do it too, just you wait!_

_One more thing: _CoyoteLoon AND La miseria y la muerte reviewed my fic! Insert hi-pitched girly scream here passes out


	5. The Visitors

_Hey all, we got another chapter for you, and a rather...interesting...review as well_

_Chapter one reviews:_

-Woe is Me

-this story sucks on ice with leather skates on!  
  
-I hate you, and I hate this story, get a life, and take a course in English literature  
  
-So, please, do not torment us with your awful tasteless stories again.  
  
-Good day you ugly dimwitted insignificant speck.  
  
-Learn to write.  
  
-Flames away,  
  
-Woe is Me  
  
-or perhaps i should say,  
  
-WOE IS YOU. :(

_Now, this review deserves a whole different kind of response...if you people have no interest in watching me smite Woe is Me, move down now._

_Ok, first off, you hate me? You don't know the first thing about me; I bet you would have trouble telling my gender if not for my name. Second, "this story sucks on ice with leather skates on!" what does that even mean? If your going to insult someone, try to sound like your brain has not been replaced with a random word generator. Third, "get a life"? Even is my fic WAS horrible, why would that indicate that I have no life? Forth, this review was set up for the FIRST chapter, which leads me to believe that you did not even READ my fic. Fifth, "take a course in English literature"? I have taken a crash course in that, and I think that my English is a bit better than yours; I've seen your fics. Sixth, "do not torment us with your awful tasteless stories again." No on is asking people to read it, and you should probably read it yourself before you say it, and you are one to talk about tastelessness, your profile shows just how PERFICT you are suppose to be. Tell me, what state did you loan out to hold your ego? Seventh, "Good day you ugly dimwitted insignificant speck" again, you are making conclusions about me you cannot confirm (while talking about how great you are, which WE cannot disprove.) Eighth, Learn to write? If I cannot write, how am I able to give you this verbal b slapping you so richly deserve right now? I know how to write, unlike SOME people. Ninth, "Woe is Me, or perhaps i should say, WOE IS YOU. :("yes, woe is me that I have to listen you your senseless ramblings. Tenth, the only reason you flamed my fic is that you hate my review for your own fic, which was an honest, and frank opinion of your work, no matter how much you don't like it. Eleventh, if you're going to insult me, TELL ME WHY. Seriously, what EXACTLY to you hate about my fic? Just saying that you hate it does nothing. Twelfth, you SAID at the beginning and end of your fic to review, so I did._

_Now, you may think I bashed you fic because I am a MLAATR fan, but that has nothing to do with it. If your fic had been properly and tastefully done, I would have loved it, but it was not, and I did not._

_Finally, flaming me just for criticizing you, your doing nothing but starting shit._

_Let me give you a word of warning kid: don't cross me, because I don't start shit, but I will finish it._

_Got that?_

_(All the fic characters stare wide-eyed at Vazura)_

_Jenny: you know Vaz, you can be scary sometimes..._

_Vazura: yea, I know ;_

_Shadowy villain we don't know anything about yet: # yea, seriously, that even scared ME! And I'm...#_

_Vazura: Shut up! Your gonna spoil it!_

_Chapter four reviews:_

-La miseria y la muerte

-Arrgh... you got a flame.  
  
-Don't worry, everyone gets them. Wanna see one of mine? '...THAT WAS HORIBLE!! IT SUCKED!! YOU ASS WIPE!! YOU GIVE INVADER ZIM FICS A BAD NAME! (' Ahem, yes. That's an old flame... my first story. But I moved forward. We all must move forward.  
  
-That flamer "Woe is me" is obviously just one of those critics that take into the role of shouting "YOU SUCK!" endlessly. There is no actual logic behind his/her's thinking process, so don't listen to them.  
  
-Anyway, excellent job on this chapter. Teh suspense Oo  
  
-You're doing a fairly good job staying in character... though you might want to give it some thought. Either way you have a nice plot developing here.  
  
-"One more thing: CoyoteLoon AND La miseria y la muerte reviewed my fic! Insert hi-pitched girly scream here passes out" P

_You are correct in your assumptions, there is no actual logic behind her thinking process, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna respond :) (See above)_

_Your reviewer sounds like the type who just likes to do that stuff, where as mine is the type who is holding a grudge. She is probably gonna go ballistic when she sees what I wrote to her, if she ever reads it. _

_Anyway, glad you like my fic, especially my first one, which I'm just making as I go along. Hard to believe it's going so well, I thought it would have bombed by now._

_Heh, and that whole girly scream thing, just for show, although I do love the fact that both of you liked it. (Now if only Queenbean3 would review, all my fic dreams would have come true)_

_Alternate Jenny: hold on, just for show? Vaz, you were out for over an hour!_

_Vazura: was not! Stop making things up!_

_Alternate Jenny: and they should believe a weirdo like you...WHY?_

_Vazura: you know you're in trouble when your own imaginary characters not only talk to you, but start insulting you too --;_

_Note to future reviewers: if you had something to say about a specific chapter, try to put it in your review of that chapter, or the most recent chapter, and don't be afraid to ask questions, I will answer them. Finally, don't worry about leaving stupid reviews, as you can see, I answer ALL reviews._

Jenny stared back at Brad, hardly believing what she just herd. "What? What kind of nightmares?"

Brad raised an eyebrow, curious about jenny's sudden interest in this, he cleared his throat and said "well, last night about half of the kids in school had nightmares that woke them all up screaming, it's really strange."

Jenny's mind was racing furiously, if lots of kids were having this problem, then there may be more to all this then she thought. She pressed further "what kind of dreams did they have?"

Brad sighed, he had thought Jenny was over her interest in dreams after the dream chip incident, but apparently he was mistaken. "Well, a lot seemed to involve an apocalyptic landscape, a sort of nightmare world. A lot of kids are gonna need therapy after this. We're actually talking about what it means. My vote is on bad cafeteria food, it was..." he paused and shuttered "...ketchup and rice day yesterday"

Jenny had never truly eaten in her life, and that still sounded gross to her. Brad looked like he was going to puke at the mere mention of it "I will NEVER forget to bring a bag lunch again...seriously, you should be happy about being a robot, there are some things mankind just was not meant to eat"

Jenny laughed at this, but then a thought struck her, and she looked all serious suddenly.

'If these dreams were caused by cafeteria food, then how did I have them?"

Jenny decided to let Brad know. "Brad? I had a similar dream!"

"What? Jen, that can't be right, you can't have eaten any of...that stuff" he gagged just thinking about it.

Jenny sighed, and said "Brad, that's just it, I did not eat that stuff, I can't have, but I still had the nightmare, and according to my mom, that's impossible!"

Brad blinked "so, you think that there is something more to this?"

Jenny nodded "I know there is, Brad"

The bus was just driving into school, when a tremendous explosion ripped through a nearby building.

...

Meanwhile

Mrs. Wakeman headed back to work, the modern invention show she had been watching had helped a lot, and she felt fully refreshed.

"Now, where was I?"

She sat at the console, brushing off a bug on the drive without a second thought, and looked over the data.

After another few minutes, she was back to being frustrated. "Oh, it still boggles the mind, what could this mean?"

Then she felt as if inspiration had struck her.

"Unless, this is suppose to confuse me, so if I look at this data over here..."

She typed away eagerly, feeling like she was almost there, when she suddenly stopped.

"This...this data cannot be right, but it has to be...my god"

She sat up, typed a bit, and her finger hovered over the enter button. Her whole body went tense "this last check should confirm my theories" taking a deep breath, she hit enter.

...

Meanwhile

The whole class gaped as the empty office near the school erupted into flames. All save Jenny, who raced out the school bus door and headed for the scene. One could now make out a series of figures apparently fighting each other in the smoke.

Jenny stepped forward to get a better view, straining through the smoke, she saw...

"What the heck is going on?" she exclaimed

Before her stood four titanic figures. They each were black and red, with a vaguely human figure, but WAY to broad. They each had four arms, with a laser mounted on each one. Their heads consisted of a bucket shape with a single red visor the only distinguishable feature.

This was not the source of the shock, however. The three figures that stood against them were. One looked like the Silver Shell, but he had large blades coming out of his shoulders, wrists, and elbows. He also looked more battle ridden, like he had taken more damage over the coarse of time. His face had lost its confident look, to be replaced a look of cold fury. Finally, he was armed with a large laser on his right arm, which Jenny had never seen before.

The second figure was human; he wore a black suit of undistinguishable fabric, which seemed to just be there to cover up the parts of him that were not encased in a bronze colored cybernetic armor. His arms were encased in huge metal gloves that went up to his elbows. His upper torso, legs up to the knees, and head were also encased in similar design. He also wore a pair of what looked like metal shorts, with an interesting belt on it with all sorts of devices. Finally, his helmet covered most of his head, but his face, as when as a few strands of black hare were visible in front, although the red shaded visor he wore made it hard to tell his hairs color. He looked to be about Brad's age, maybe a little younger, and he wore a look of determination as he stared down his opponents. His back had what looked like a jetpack on it.

The last of them was..."XJ-6?" Jenny said, now very confused. It looked just like her sister, from the thin frame to the screen for a face, it was her, although she also looked like she had seen a lot of combat, and a few upgrades, judging by the plasma cannon sticking out of her left arm. She looked at the enemies before her with a neutral expression, like none of this truly mattered anymore.

The sight of what lay before her transfixed Jenny. "This can't be real."

The four-armed robots leveled their weapons, and fired.

Immediately, the three mysterious people scattered, dodging the shots, so that they only struck rubble.

Xj-6 lunged to her left and fired off her plasma cannon, which promptly took off the head of one of the robots. The robot slumped to the ground.

The silver shell lunged to the right, and then dove forward, firing his cannon at his opponent, who lurched back as it struck him. This was all the time the shell needed; he quickly dove forward and slashed his opponent in two with his wrist blades. The top half of the robot slid off the bottom, and both were still.

The mysterious boy rocketed into the air, two small lasers coming out of his huge gloves, which he fired rapidly. The two remaining robots fired back, but could not hit him with all the swerving and dodging he was doing. Finally, a miniature missile from the boys underarm fired and blew a hole on one of there torsos.

Just then, the last robot got a lucky shot, and hit the kid's jetpack. After some swerving, he managed to land, but the robot now leveled all four of its weapons at him, and he had nowhere to go.

All this happened in a matter of seconds, and Jenny had not jumped in during that time because she was too shocked by the whole situation, and was unsure what side to join. But as she saw that kid in danger, she knew what she had to do.

Jenny whipped out her ion cannon and with one blow, reduced the last robot to rubble. After that, she rushed forward to the boy, and looked down at him, he had an expression of bewilderment and shock on his face.

"Are you ok?" she said

Just then, she heard the humm of a plasma cannon being charged right behind her.

"Don't move, traitor!"

...

Meanwhile

Mrs. Wakeman hit the enter key, and watched as the loading bar appeared on her screen, but suddenly, something went wrong.

The image got blurry, and faded away, to be replaced with the image of some sort of mechanical construct. It was hideous to behold.

#Well, I see that even in this world, you continue to annoy me, Wakeman. Can't keep that big nose of yours out of my business? Well, I'll just have to deal with that, now wont I?#

Just then, Mrs. Wakeman heard a sound behind her. She spun around just in time to see what looked like XJ-9 strike her with a tazer-like device.

She screamed and struggled, but it was no use. In a matter of moments, Mrs. Wakeman slumped to the floor, completely knocked out.

XJ-9 looked down at her, and smirked at the sight of her limp body. After a moment, she picked her up, hoisted her over her shoulder, and with a ripple in the air, that seemed to tear at the very fabric of the universe, disappeared.

The image on the screen smiled, stated simply #and so it begins#, and then faded, leaving only the blank computer screen, all recent files having been deleted.

To be continued...

_Wow, the review response section was almost as long as the actual fic...gotta watch out for that._

_Anyway, the story is starting to pick up, so I hope your ready, because it's going to be a wild ride!_

_Please send me a review telling me what you think, I need the encouragement. (Unless it's Woe is Me, then I prefer it if you don't review)_


	6. The Capture

_Well, here it is, don't have time to answer my ONLY review, I will do it with the others next chapter._

Sheldon's world had turned upside-down.

Here in front of him was the girl-robot he had a crush on, an alternate version of his own alter ego, a kid just younger than him that looked like he belonged in a sci-fi TV show, a disgruntled XJ-6 with a plasma cannon bigger than her whole arm, and four robots that looked like they could tear a small country apart, all dueling it out. And then after all that, Jenny was being held hostage.

Despite this whole thing seeming like a bad movie plotline, when he saw Jenny in danger, he knew he had to act!

Sheldon drew himself up dramatically, thinking: THIS LOOKED LIKE A JOB FOR...

Then he remembered he had left his Silver Shell suite at home, and slumped back into his seat.

Meanwhile...

Mrs. Wakeman felt like the whole world refused to hold completely still, and continued to shift as she woke up. She noted that her wrists were strapped to a wall of metal behind her, and she felt an unnatural chill in the air, like ever nerve in her body was screaming "DANGER!"

Her vision finally cleared, and she saw a figure standing confidently before her. A very familiar figure...

"XJ-9? What is going on here?"

In a flash, _Jenny _struck her with a single slap, a look of contempt on her face. She had turned down her strength levels, so it was nowhere near as bad as it could be, but it stung nonetheless.

"SILENCE!" she boomed, "You will not speak unless spoken to!"

Mrs. Wakeman was at a loss for words, as mad as XJ-9 had been; she had never struck her before. In a way, it had hurt in a way that went beyond mere pain.

#Now now my dear, we must be kind to our...guest, she is very special for a human, after all.# said a voice coming from a figure in the darkness.

Mrs. Wakeman saw a humanoid figure, about 7 feet tall, covered in a robe of pipes and wires that trailed down to the floor, and connected to various outlets behind it. The pipes and wires seemed to move with a life all there own, and a few disconnected ones writhed through the air, while some positioned themselves like scorpion tails. Nothing was distinguishable beyond that in the gloom.

Jenny immediately bowed down in the creature's presence, whether it was voluntary or not was impossible to tell. "As you command, my master." She then slinked away, obeying an unspoken command.

#Now then# said the figure in it's own twisted voice. #I imagine you are confused, well just think over the data you saw#

After a moment, comprehension dawned on Mrs. Wakeman's face. "So YOU were the one who sent me that message, and according to the data...but what would you want with me?"

#Ah, allow me to...explain what I want you to do...#

Meanwhile...

"Traitor? What are you talking about?"

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" XJ-6 practically screeched. "Like you don't know, you dirty backstabber! You probably would be trying to kill us all if I didn't have this gun aimed at your head"

The Silver Shell stepped forward, looked down at Jenny, and stated, "who would have though catching the overlords personal right-hand agent would have been this easy! Now we finally have some leverage"

XJ-6 looked positively furious at the thought of letting Jenny go. "YOU'RE GOING TO TRADE HER BACK? And after all she has done? If you make any deals with the overlord, he will not honor them, and he would probably sacrifice her just to wipe us out! Better just to kill her now!"

"Um, guys?" said the strange boy "I don't mean to interrupt, but has anyone besides me even LOOKED at the area around us?"

Silver Shell did so, and gasped.

"The land is unspoiled! The plants are in full bloom! And...the sky is no longer scorched!"

This last note seemed to be the most amazing of all.

"Not a single place in our world is so untouched, so pure!"

"So what?" said XJ-6 "Don't tell me you believe the crackpot intelligence about the dimensional shifter, it's probably an illusion, meant to get us to trust HER!"

She indicated Jenny by nudging her with the plasma gun.

Jenny was not saying anything, but now she felt a desire to speak "it's no illusion, my world is really like this."

"WHY SHOULD I EVER BELEVE YOU!" XJ-6 screamed, raw fury dancing across her face "After you KILLED five of our sisters, and our MOTHER! Were they just _useless obstacles?_ Well guess what, they mattered to ME!"

_Killed?_ Jenny though, her dream coming back to her.

Silver shell barked, "THAT'S ENOUGH! You are out of like XJ-6, this is MY call to make!"

"Make the right one" she hissed

"I will" he said grimly

Meanwhile...

"WHAT?" Mrs. Wakeman screamed "I would never help you with such a vile task, nor your other request, because I honestly don't think you should get any help!"

The figure, still shrouded in shadow spoke again #ah, what a shame, now we have to do this the hard way#

In a flash, a series of wires dove at Mrs. Wakeman, setting themselves upon her back and inserting small needles into her spine. She screamed as pain raced through her, and she felt the presence of another mind forcing itself upon her own.

#Let me put this simply, you are going to help me, whether you want to, or NOT!# and with that, a surge of energy blasted through her.

Everything swirled, got hazy, and faded to darkness. Her last thought was how close that came to what would happen to the universe. After that, she knew no more.

To be continued...

_Well? Good? Bad? Let me know, or I will...umm, I don't know... _

_Edit: sorry about the poor quality of the last update, I updated the thing at 11:30pm, so the auto-spell check did more work than I did. Hope your enjoying the story so far, and I have even more that you look forward to the_ _next update, because this thing has a ways to go!_

_Yea, I know, I drive you crazy with these cliffhangers, but I love doing it. (I have an Issue, I admit it)_


	7. The Encounter

_Well, here we go, sorry about the wait, but I can't keep up my "one update every two days" philosophy, and I had computer trouble._

_Anyway, on to reviews!:_

_Chapter five reviews:_

-La miseria y la muerte

-Good chapter. Nice job with the suspense and drama. I like.

_Thanks, that was my goal, suspense and drama. _

_Chapter six reviews:_

-CoyoteLoon

-Aha! I was sort of thinking along the lines of "parallel universe", so I wasn't too far off, here. Your story has definitely taken a turn to the dark side. So Jenny's an evil traitor in another existence, hmm? And is the mysterious figure a version of Vexus, or someone else?

-Good chapter, although there were a few grammar mistakes that made some parts of it difficult to read: "She noted that her wrists to a wall of metal strapped her", for example, should probably be "she noted that her wrists were strapped to a wall of metal." I always proofread my chapters before posting them, and I still let typos slip by. But with a little more polish, your dialog and your writing will continue to improve.

_Thanks, yea, it does have a dark aspect to it, doesn't it? Oh, and don't jump to conclusions about Jenny, you can never tell with these things. And Vexus might be the figure, but I'm not gonna tell. Thanks for the info about my mistake; I guess that is what I get for uploading at 11:30pm. ;_

-SailorCardKnight

-I LOVE stories where a parallel universe crosses over and the hero/main character meets their evil self. You must update soon...why you ask? Because I'm sitting at the edge of my seat wanting to see what happens next! That's why!

-(And keep writing!! you will get better at it! That's what happened to me.)

_Thanks for all that, parallel universe crosses are fun, makes you think things like "what if this had happened, or that" I will keep writing, as long as you all keep reading. So now I have updated, and it was actually the two most recent reviews that encouraged me to do it!_

_I will keep writing, as long as you all keep reading._

_PS: the only way to be sure if you do is if you review!_

Brad was going ballistic, Jenny was in deep, and he did not know how she was going to get out of this one.

Most people were watching the scene with ether concern or interest. Although some people, like the crust cousins, seemed like they would be calmly munching popcorn if they had any.

He was not sure what he could do, but Brad decided to get involved anyway.

Slipping out of the bus, which was easy considering how many people were tensely watching the action outside, he slowly moved toward the whole bizarre scene before him. Brad could not help but whispered to himself "What the hell am I doing?"

Meanwhile...

#BLAST IT!# the creature bellowed #she still fights against me#

It was, of course, referring to Mrs. Wakeman, who although her thoughts were open to it, her free will was untouchable. Despite all the brain interfacing, she had not broken.

#I HATE it when they fight like this, now I have to get her to willingly help me# he growled

XJ-9 stepped into the room, and looked over the whole situation. The automatic door clamping shut behind her.

She looked over the scene of her frustrated master, smirked, and said, "Leave that to me my lord, I have an idea"

Mrs. Wakeman, barley contuse, groaned; now afraid of what was next.

Meanwhile...

"I'm telling you, I'm not who you think!" Jenny stated, now starting to panic. Kneeling on the ground with a gun to her head was not helping.

Silver Shell was apparently deep in thought, trying to make a very hard call.

Just then Jenny herd a whisper full of malice "I'm gonna enjoy killing you"

It was XJ-6

"Why don't you trust me" Jenny said desperately her

"Because I did before, it cost me everything"

The Silver Shell stood forward, apparently having made up his mind.

XJ-6, never taking her eyes off Jenny, asked "well, can I kill her now?"

"I've reached a decision, I think that-"

Just then the mysterious boy gasped. He was pointing at a figure approaching them. He seemed to have been going for stealth, but froze as he was spotted.

Silver Shell spun around to look, but paused as the figure came into view. "That's only a kid, what's wrong? What's going on here?" he asked, then his eyes widened as realization came to him.

Jenny looked, and saw Brad. She was worried about his safety, but much more confused as to why the sight of him was so strange. Brad was equally confused, wondering what the big deal was.

The mysterious boy looked like he was seeing a ghost, he was pail and seemed unable to speak. Finally, he took his helmet off and asked "...Bro?"

It was Tuck...

A fifteen-year-old Tuck...

Meanwhile...

Fifteen...

Fifteen helpless people killed in front of her...

Mrs. Wakeman could barley stand it. This worlds version of XJ-9 had, fifteen times, brought a miserable person, tired and hurt, filthy and dressed in rags. She always showed them Mrs. Wakeman, and then said, "here she is, and this is the reason you must die, because SHE will not help us."

Some had looked angry, some looked scared, some just looked like they did not care, but once the murdering started, they knew nothing but pain.

Not a single one tried to escape, they knew better than to try, but they all tried once the pain began. It did no good.

The manner of their execution was beyond description, but put simply, you might just have nightmares for the rest of your life if you saw it once. Mrs. Wakeman had seen it fifteen times.

One of the worst parts was seeing XJ-9 commit these acts, and almost seem to enjoy it. She bore a look one might have if they were trimming the hedges. The shadowy figure watched, not even making a sound, the pipes and wires that trailed off it moving softly, like a gentle breeze nudged them.

She could stand no more.

As XJ-9 began her sixteenth "this is the reason you must die" speech, this time to a mear child of 9, Mrs. Wakeman cried out "enough!"

She found that she had been sobbing, but through all the horror she had not noticed. "I'll...I'll help you, just promise you will stop this madness."

Inside she cursed herself, she knew far more might die if she helped them, but she could not stand any more of this.

#Excellent# the creature said, seemingly pleased #XJ-9, take this filthy slave back to the lab, I will be working with the doctor.#

As XJ-9 lead the relived looking slave out, the figure called back to her: #and send someone to clean up this mess# referring to the human organs and body parts strewn about.

Meanwhile...

"TUCK?!?" both Jenny and Brad said at once.

Jenny and Brad looked at Tuck, Tuck looked at Brad, XJ-6 looked at Jenny, the kids in the bus looked at the strange scene before them, and the Silver Shell looked just plain confused.

After glancing from person to person, Silver Shell threw his arms up in exasperation and shouted "DID I MISS SOMETHING HERE?"

Tuck paused, and said "but...Brad, your suppose to be dead!"

To be continued...

_Wow, we are switching between a slightly dark scene, and an uber-dark scene._

_Well, I've successfully kept you all in the dark about the villains master plan, or even his identity._

_Well, Woe is Me has managed to keep her mouth shut...I'm scared. That's like a sign of the apocalypse, or something. Oo;_

_Send in the reviews, they make me feel happy and warm. _


	8. The Plan

_Ugh, so fugging sick...and my computer is wigging out, and the first time I wrote this chapter it got deleted due to my shear stupidity._

_In short, not a good week, but I kept at it anyway, aren't I wonderful._

_Chapter one reviews:_

-loros

-WOW that was scary I wonder If Jenny is really going to do all that...

_Perhaps not in THIS world, read on to discover more!_

_Chapter seven reviews:_

_-_loros

-Wow I finally read all the chapters and...IT is very good!! Keep at it I'm expecting to see what's going to happen next.

_Thanks for the kind reviews, and I will keep at it._

-hyper monkey

-Well considering I didn't review any of the chapters before, and now I am, this is so chair falling (literally, I fell of my chair wondering what was gonna happen next) Brad being dead, the evil "?" kidnapping Jenny's mom, whoa this is intense, I like it! Must see...new chapter...likey likey likey story...

_likey likey likey review, and hold onto your seat, because I've only just begun._

"Dead? Ok, all bets are off, THIS is the strangest thing I've ever heard!" Brad exclaimed.

The Tuck look-alike looked utterly baffled, as did everyone else there. XJ-6, however, looked only slightly annoyed. Finally, she said "how stupid are you people, if this really is another world, then PERHAPS Brad would have lived here?'

Silver Shell and Tuck both paused, they comprehension dawned on them.

Brad paused at this, an unsure look on his face. "So...you people are from another world?"

Silver Shell stepped forward, crossed his armies (being careful to keep his wrist blades clear of them.), and said, "Another universe, it would seem. XJ-6, stand down, this Jenny is on our side"

For a brief moment, Jenny was sure XJ-6 was going to blast her head off anyway, but she stepped back, looking angry with Silver Shell, and even more angry at Jenny.

Jenny stood up, and brushed the dust herself off, trying not to make eye contact with XJ-6.

Silver Shell thought for a moment, and then stated, "This presents a problem; we have no way to get back to our own world, and it would take a genus to find a way"

Brad knew what Jenny was going to say before she said it, but he let her anyway.

"What about my mom?"

Silver shell looked confused, and then slapped his forehead, making a rather satisfying clanging sound. "I keep forgetting this world is different"

Jenny had a bad feeling about what was supposed to be different, but she let it go.

Silver Shell then said "XJ-9, we will meet you at 4:00 your time, and we will discuss this in detail. We will also explain what is going on then. In the meantime we need to learn all we can about this world. Don't try to find us, we will find you."

Jenny was not sure how to answer this, it was all so much to take in, and there was still so much she did not understand. But there was no time to talk, as Silver Shell finished talking he switched into his flying disk form and spun off.

Following suite, Tuck switched on his own jets and followed.

Jenny turned to XJ-6, half expecting her to have taken off as well, but nearly jumped out of her frame as she saw her mere inches from her face. "They may forgive you," she hissed in a voice full of hate "but I never will, I don't care what universe this is, I will NEVER forgive you. And when you stab us in the back like I KNOW you are gonna do, I'll be there, and then we can finish this little chat of ours."

Jenny was flabbergasted; she stared for a moment, but could think of nothing to say.

Without another word, XJ-6 ignited her own pigtail jets and followed the others.

...

Meanwhile...

Mrs. Wakeman wiped the sweat off her brow as she typed away at the computer set in front of her. It had seemed to have been spontaneously assembled out of the wall, which it now jutted from. It handled the same way a regular computer did, but a hundred times more effectively. It also hat a rather dark appearance to it, as did everything else here, made from cold patchwork metal and wires.

She was unguarded, save for the figure that watched her from the darkness.

Aside from the strange jerking and swaying of the pipes and wires, it was utterly still, watching her from the shadows.

Mrs. Wakeman had been trying to figure a way out of here, but she could think of nothing, and she feared what might be done to her, or done to someone else in front of her, if she tried.

#I know what your thinking, and you'd best forget it, there is no hope for you, or your world#

Mrs. Wakeman looked up from her work, and stared at the creature. "You may think your unstoppable, but you will never succeed, people like you always get what is coming to them, always"

The creature leaned back and let loose a cruel laugh. #Heh, there are two problems with what you just said#

#One# it said, holding up an elongated claw-like finger on his right hand #all of your creations and yourself from this world said the same thing, and most of them are dead, or work for me#

Before Mrs. Wakeman could answer, it continued.

#Two# it held up a second claw #you can hardly call me a person, now can you?#

With that, he stepped out of the shadows.

Mrs. Wakeman gaped "what...what are you?"

...

Meanwhile...

_(Vazura: and then all the readers screamed "Vaz, you $$hole!" and I laughed)_

"Soooooo..." Brad said, "I'd say that was about an 9.3 on the totally messed up scale"

"Yea" Jenny said as they walked back to the bus. "I thought I'd seen it all, but this is something I never expected."

As they stepped back on the bus, they got a decent round of applauding from some students, who had greatly enjoyed the light show they had seen, including Sheldon, who clapped the loudest. Jenny's cheeks blushed blue a bit as she took a bow, then she sat back down.

Brad sat next to her, relaxed as the bus driver started the engine again, and said, "hey, what building did they hit?"

"Please Brad, I don't wanna think about it, I feel kinda responsible for letting it break."

Brad glanced at a sign that hung near the destroyed building. "It says Tremorton Microsquash telemarketer HQ"

Jenny paused for a moment, and said "You know Brad, suddenly I feel a lot better"

...

Later, as everyone was sitting down for the first class, the principles voice broke in over the speaker: "Students, due to the police investigation involving the indecent at the nearby office building, classes have been canceled for the rest of the day for safety reasons, we are very sorry for the trouble"

The class did not look heartbroken; in fact cheering could be heard in most of the classrooms.

"You know, this day is starting to look up," Brad said to Jenny as they walked back out to the bus. They had already made plans to hang out together at the mall.

Jenny sent her mother a message, although the answering machine picked it up. She did not worry much; it just meant that she was busy with her work.

"Yea" she said back to Brad "chances are, nothing else will go wrong today.

What Jenny did not know, was a fifth four-armed robot was watching her from the roof . She also did not know just how much was about to go wrong.

To be continued...

_Yea yea, you hate me for leavening Mrs. Wakeman like that, but I love leaving you hanging, it's just too fun._

_When all the problems on my plate get smaller, I'll try to get the next chapter up._

_In the meantime, send me those reviews, they encourage me, and drive me to write more for you!_


	9. The Memory

Well, it feels strange going from the Mlaatr interviews to Overlay Syndrome, they are just so different in ever way, but I like them both. Now for an additional disclamer for one scene in this chapter:

_In addition to now owning Mlaatr, I also don't own Sonic Adventure 2: Battle_

_So now, on to the reviews:_

_Chapter one reviews:_

-hyper monkey

XTied up to a chairX see? I didn't fall! Yay! Hehe well anyways now to ask the one questions reviewers asked "WHAT HAPPENED TO MRS.WAKEMAN?!" well yeah what did happen to her? Hehe well anyways the sooner the chapter the sooner I know and in short: can't wait for chapter 9! Hehe yeah looks around is anyone gonna untie me?

_You will discover soon enough, but I can't reveal everything, now can I? I suppose I could untie you... Xpulls out greatswordX now, hold perfectly still..._

-Randomessent

-Your story has a very interesting plot and it is easy to see that you have talent in the writing area. A suggestion: After uploading your story, you might want to preview it to locate any errors that you might have missed when typing the story. Also, "your" is possesive, while "you're" is really "you are." Just keep that in mind when writing. Other than that, great story! Keep up the good work!

_Thanks for the help, and the complements, it is greatly appreciated!_

_Well, that's it for reviews; now brace yourself for my next chapter!_

Jenny was still confused about what she had seen, but she found it was easy to relax at the mall, she came there so often, she got almost no odd stares, and she was very much enjoying her time relaxing there.

"So Jen" Brad said, "What do you want to do now?"

"Anything normal, somehow, I think it wont stay that way..."

Meanwhile...

Tuck looked out over the city, standing on a rooftop, thinking to himself.

"What's on you mind, kid?" the Silver Shell said, sitting on a ledge beside him, XJ-6 was nowhere in sight.

"I was thinking...about our past" Tuck said, looking off into the blue sky.

Silver Shell looked off into the sky also for a time.

For a while, no one said anything, and then Silver Shell said, "you miss him, don't you Tuck?"

"Five years, one-third of my whole life, and I still can't forget about him...about my brother" Tuck replied.

Silver shell looked over to him, then said "No, but if you could, would you want to?"

"No" he replied, "Brad is half the reason I fight, I came THIS close to embracing him back there, Sheldon!" he held his fingers inches apart for effect.

"Heh, please don't call me that, I stopped being Sheldon back in the accident"

"Another casualty of war, we've all felt the sting of loss here, no doubt about that" Tuck said solemnly.

"Speaking of which" Tuck added "Where IS XJ-6?"

"She said she wanted to look around, but we all know she needs to clear her head, I thought she was gonna shoot Jenny back there!" Shell Said.

Tuck looked back over, and said "I can't entirely blame her, she has the most reason to be upset after all!"

Meanwhile...

XJ-6 stood atop the Tremorton suspension bridge, gazing down at the cars zooming by below. In truth she was not watching the people, she was remembering...

Chaos was everywhere; people and robots running everywhere in a panic. The alarm blared continually, the whole starship would be overrun or destroyed in minutes.

XJ-6 could barely move, she was in the arms of here sister XJ-4, as she rocketed forward on her treads, carrying her battle damaged sister to the escape pods.

In a large chamber, just down the hall from the pods, she saw XJ-7, a combat-modified XJ-3, and a scared looking XJ-2, her hiccups held in check by her own fear.

"What happened to 6?" XJ-7 asked. "She was attacked, I barely got her out in time" XJ-4 responded, more speed and confidence in her voice than she had had before. "it was Jenny"

"Aw slag! Not her! ...We'll have to help 6 later, we need to get to those pods now!" XJ-7 said, a note of panic in her voice, she wanted to get out of here fast.

All four of them rushed down the corridor, into the room where the pods were.

The room looked like a disaster site, the rest of the surviving crew was already gone, and a single pod remained, ready for boarding.

"Looks like we will have to share" XJ-4 said

They dared not fly through the vacuum without it, the enemy would gun them down before they could get far enough away, and the pod was much faster.

They gently set XJ-6 in the pod first, but before they could get aboard themselves, they heard a voice behind them. "Where do you think your going, dear sisters?"

They all spun around and saw XJ-9

The greatest traitor in the entire war...

Jenny

"I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere, you're all finished!" she announced, the four-armed robots guarding the exits. Before any of them could react, Jenny whipped out her laser...

And blasted XJ-7 in half

The broken body seemed to fall in slow motion, the other XJs watching in horror. All save for Jenny, who never flinched.

"no..." XJ-6 whispered faintly, but she could do no more

"I always thought that if it ever came down to it" XJ-4 said "you would show us mercy, but I was wrong, there is nothing left of the sister I loved in there!" she pointed dramatically at Jenny as she said this, but her determined look changed to horror as she saw...

XJ-2 and XJ-3 were stepping in between Jenny and their two remaining sisters. It was a tragic display of love, doomed to fail from the beginning.

Jenny smiled, then as quick as a flash droped to the floor and send XJ-2 into the wall. She his with a sickening crunch, and fell to the floor. She was still alive, but hurt horribly, and writhed in the closest thing to pain a robot can feel. She emmited faint gasping sounds, trying to get up, and failing.

XJ-6 would have put her poor sister out of her suffering right there, but she could still do nothing. She was tortured by her inability to act.

XJ-3 charged forward, a short beam sword extending from her right hand. She let loose a squeak-like battle cry and jumped at Jenny. In a swift motion, Jenny side-stepped the clumsy attack, grabbed the right arm, and pulled it out of its socket.

XJ-4 looked on with horror, too shocked to move.

XJ-3 fell to the floor, squealing in pain, clutching the stump of her arm as oil dribbled out. Jenny looked amused at her pain.

Jenny then reached down with slow deliberation to her, but about then XJ-4 stepped in, slamming into Jenny, and sending her over to the far side of the room.

She quickly recovered, and got back up, saying "your going to pay for that!"

XJ-4 said, "I am not afraid of what you do to me!"

"Oh" Jenny says, "It's not what I'll do to you, it's what I'll do in front of you!"

She quickly launched an electric net, pinning XJ-4 to the wall.

"Now then, where was I?" Jenny said, turning to the quivering form of XJ-3.

"No...please...oh god...no..." XJ-6 moaned, she managed to raise her right arm a bit, but had to drop it immediately

Jenny grabbed XJ-3's head, held her high in the air, and started to squeeze. She was deliberately slow, watching XJ-4 writhe in a helpless attempt to get free and save her. Then with a final movement, poor XJ-3's head caved in with a crunch, a spurt of oil splattered over the floor.

Something snapped in XJ-4, it was worse than any injury, she had given into despair.

"No...no...nonono...all my fault, could have saved them, could have stopped have...all my fault..." she mumbled.

Jenny turned to her, aimed a laser cannon at her head, and just before firing, said: "yes, it is all you fault"

Then she fired.

A single oil tear ran down XJ-6's face, she managed to faintly whisper "no..."

"Now for you." Jenny said as she headed toward XJ-6, her laser cannon still deployed, she took careful aim...

and was surprised to see the escape pod door close.

A small energy burst from behind her had hit the control panel, and set the automatic launch sequence. XJ-2 had just saved XJ-6's life with the last of her energy.

"You worm!" Jenny shouted, and wasted the writhing form on the ground with her gun.

She ordered the drones back to there ship, they were leaving.

XJ-6 watched all this with tears in her eyes, but just then the spherical pod launched her into space.

The last image she saw was the ship breaking apart, as the larger enemy vessel pulled away from it, and then she knew no more.

XJ-6 awoke from her trance, discovered that she was crying, and wiped them off. She then said, "I still remember what I vowed you all"

She jumped off the bridge, and began grinding down the rail of the bridge, sending sparks everywhere.

"I promise you...REVENGE!"

To be continued...

_WOOT! That one was da shizzle! You may recognize that last line above, if so, a cookie for you!_

_Well, nothing like a dark flashback to clear the sinuses (it works, trust me) my only regret is how many times I had to type out the letters XJ! Seriously, it was driving me nuts!_

_Well, hope you all liked this, and the minor spin-off as well! Send a review to tell me what you truly thought!_


	10. The Assassin

_Aww, only one review, I thought I would have gotten at least two._

_Chapter nine reviews:_

-Hyper monkey

-::Still in chair and didn't fall but is dizzy:: wow...that IS a lot of "XJ" but wow seriously that has to be the worst watching people suffer...but yet this is an awesome story! What happened to Sheldon that made him be in his silver shell outfit? Hehe thanks for untying me ;; next chapter! Whee! Lol

_There was a reason they sometimes called themselves "6" or "4" now and then, to reduce that number a bit. As to what happened to Sheldon will be revealed soon enough. Your welcome for untying you, sorry about the torn shirt, I'm not perfect with a greatsword._

_A quick note, in addition to the already mentioned titles, I also don't own Soul Caliber, or any of the sequels that came off it._

_One more thing: review-wise, how is it that nine chapters of an action packed, horror and angst ridden, thrill ride of a fic get almost outdone by two chapters of a humorous interview series I made with half the effort? It boggles the mind._

_Anyway, thought I'd try my hand at a little Jenny/Brad fluff, tell me how I did, k?_

_------------------_

Jenny was very much enjoying her time out.

Clothes shopping had been a bit difficult, seeing as her frame was hard to work with, leaving many things (especially shoes) hard to get. Brad also was not so keen on the idea of spending there time that way, and later talked her into joining her at the arcade.

Brad had soundly beaten her at a game of "Soul Caliber 7: Inferno's Resurrection"

After a few hours at the mall, they decided to head out for a simple walk. They were strolling through the park, Jenny carrying a full shopping bag, when Brad spoke up"

"Well" Brad said as "Overall I'd say this has been one awesome day. You taking down that robot, seeing those cool people from a whole other world, getting of school for the day, hanging out at the mall all day, AND kicking your but at video games" he said, with much emphases and a punch into the air on the last part.

"Heh, Brad. You've gloated enough, can we drop it now?" Jenny asked, looking mildly annoyed, while keeping an even pace with Brad.

They sat down on a park bench for a moment. Jenny sat on the left, and set her bag down beside her. For a moment they both just looked off into the distance, there were no other humans (or robots) as far as the eye could see.

"Brad" Jenny said, turning to him, "What were you doing when you slinked around toward the battle like that?" she said, an inquisitive look on her face.

Brad looked over at Jenny, dawned a sheepish grin, and said "I haven't the foggiest idea, I just saw you in trouble and...I just HAD to try to help out..." he looked a bit embarrassed, and blushed a bit.

'He put himself in a suicidal situation...just to try and save me?' Jenny thought.

"Brad, that was very sweet of you, thanks" Jenny said in a kind voice, looking deep into his eyes.

Brad blushed a bit more; looked back into Jenny's eyes, and said "you know I'd do anything for you Jenny"

Jenny paused a moment, then said "I know, that's what's so great about you, almost no one else is this nice to me..." She blushed blue a bit and continued "you're a great friend, Brad"

Brad's mind raced, he was trying to decide what to say next.

'I almost lost her today, and with her line of work, it might just happen one day.' he though, coming to a bold conclusion, he though 'I have to tell her now'

After what seemed like forever, he choked out "So Jenny, do you think...are we...just friends?"

Jenny's world stopped. Was this really happening? Did Brad...

For the longest time, they just looked into each other's eyes, and then Jenny tried to answer.

"Well, I..." she started, but fell silent. After another pause, Jenny gently reached her hand out to place it on Brads own.

Jenny half expected him to pull back, but after a brief look of shock, he looked happy.

_(Sorry folks, it can't stay that way)_

They leaned a little closer, still looking at each other, and then Jenny started "Brad, I really-"

Just then, Jenny got a scared look on her face. A split second later she grabbed Brad and threw both of them to the ground.

A split second later, a laser bolt tore through the bench, as well as the clothes Jenny had bought earlier.

A four-armed robot identical to the four encountered earlier today had been crouched behind a nearby tree, and had just fired off its weapon.

Jenny, now on top of Brad, got off quickly and glared at the other robot. Seeing that it had been spotted, the robot ignited a pair of jet boots ant took off.

Jenny lit her pigtail jets and followed, zooming in a streak across the sky. She never saw how much Brad blushed when she had gotten on top of him.

Brad, still blushing, stood up and brushed himself off. As he did this, he suddenly remembered what that assassin had interrupted.

He fell to his knees, swung his arms up into the air, and shouted "NOOOOOoooooo..."

Meanwhile...

The alternate Silver Shell was on a rooftop in a different section of the city, the suburbs to be exact. They had seen most of what there was to see in a single day, and had learned quite a bit, and were almost ready to head over to Jenny's house, but the Silver shell had one last stop to make first.

After instructing Tuck to get XJ-6 and meet him near Jenny's house, he had headed off to the one person he wanted to see most of all.

With a swift move, he switched to disk mode and hovered to the garage door of a nearby house. He was rather grateful that no one was around.

After switching back to robot mode, he noticed that there was no car in the driveway, which meant the parents were not home. It did not matter, he had no intention of encountering them, they were not who he had come to see. He carefully opined the garage door, and just as he had expected there was a pimply-faced boy, a screwdriver in his hand.

He had been working on (ironically) his Silver Shell outfit, but when he saw that very same being standing before him, he dropped his screwdriver and stared.

"Please" the alternate Shell said, holding his hands up "don't be afraid, I just want to talk"

"Who...what...are you?" Sheldon asked, still a little scared.

"This may be hard to believe, but I'm you." The Shell said, stepping around a bit as he talked.

Sheldon, who was in a sense a superhero, and was in love with a robot, was not as skeptical as most people would have been.

"Um" he said, "ok, are you like...from the future or something?" he asked, looking scared and skeptical.

"Not quite, kid" he said "I'm you, from another dimension" he stated simply.

"Wow, umm...you know this is strangely not as much of a surprise...do you want to come out of there?" he said, looking more at ease.

"I can't," he said, looking a bit sad.

"What? Why not?" Sheldon asked, looking perplexed and tilting his head slightly to one side.

"You should sit down, I'll tell you everything"

Sheldon was panicked, the robot forces he had helped fight for the past 3 years were now on the loose; tearing through the outpost he was in.

Sheldon, and his alter ego Silver Shell had both been serving in the rebellion since it's formation, his secret being kept by the highest ranked officials and his closest friends. He was not sure why he kept it a secret, but something told him it was for the best.

Now his "alternate identity" was just beyond this hallway he was running down, if he could just reach it, He could get in the fight and make a difference!

Sheldon was dressed in a red and white uniform of unusual cut, (think "Gundam Wing" flight suite) the standard outfit for the rebel members. His hair had remained uncut over these past three years, and now was tied behind him in a ponytail, which flapped behind him as he ran.

Finally, he reached the door. He started typing in the code in the consol...

...And he heard the enemy missile fire down the corridor just before it hit.

The last thing he recalled before blacking out was seeing bits of his own body flying away.

As the Silver Shell said this, Sheldon let out a shudder

"Wow" he said, "how did you live through that?"

Silver Shell stood silent for a moment, and then said "I almost didn't, I lost the entire lower half of my body up to my ribs, my left arm up to the elbow, and my right eye."

After a pause, he continued, "Just after my injury, they drove the enemy away, and found me. The only way to save me was to cyberneticly enhance me. The normal practice was to attach the crippled patent to a new robot body, I chose the Silver Shell. I became part machine that day, they put my name down on the casualty list." He finished with a sad note in his voice.

For the longest time there was silent, during which the Silver Shell looked at the floor sadly.

Sheldon had so many questions, so he launched into asking them then and there.

After a short time, they were happily talking about just about everything, and were both much happier.

Meanwhile...

Jenny rocketed over the city, she had been following this robot for a few minutes now, and she was tiring it out. Its clumsy attempts to kill her had failed time and again; it was annoying, and nothing more.

Suddenly, it dived down and snatched a man up from the street. He yelled, but could not get free. The robot held a gun to his head, making his point clear.

Jenny stopped, unable to endanger the person's life. For a moment, there was silence...

Then a plasma bolt blasted the bots head off. XJ-6 hovered there, her plasma cannon outstretched.

For a moment, the man fell to the ground, but the 15-year-old Tuck flew out of nowhere and caught him. After gently setting him down he rocketed back up alongside XJ-6.

XJ-6 then said "Putting peoples lives in danger again, Jenny?"

_------------------_

_WOOT! Gotta love the flashbacks, oh and the fluff too._

_Everyone tell me what you think in your review, I gotta know!_


	11. The Story

_Don't ask why it took me so long to update, I'd rather not talk about it._

_Anyway, I'm gonna make up for it, so hang on tight!_

_Chapter ten reviews:_

-Kojin-san

-Sweet!! Now this is starting teh get interesting! The action, the anime style romance, the... other stuff... anyways. This is a really well written fic. My two thumbs are up, my five are belong to you, and I give this a 10/10. Hope to read the next one soon!

_Glad you like it, sorry to make you wait._

-hyper monkey

-::looks at nearly torn shirt:: never noticed that...::steals Sheldon's sweater and wears it:: well that answers my question about the Silver Shell...now to figure out about Mrs. Wakeman! lol anyways awesome story can't wait for the next chapter and yeah I'm just...gonna go now...yeah bye! ::runs away from Sheldon::

_You may just find out more than you want to in this one. Dun dun DUN!_

-Loros

Ha!! Poor Brad he almost got her!! I guess that you like to see jenny and Brad as a couple ...Hmm

_Yes, yes I do._

_Well, that's it for reviews, now on to the fic!_

_------------------_

"What do you mean put peoples lives in danger?" Jenny asked, "I was trying to help that man!"

"6" Tuck stated, "As interesting as this fight would be, I am afraid that we don't have the time! Shell told me to meet him at Jenny's house right away"

XJ-6 looked rather upset about her fight being stopped, but still stepped aside.

"Right away?" Jenny asked "but I thought I had another hour." She was starting to become concerned, what could make them rush like this?

"Beats me" Tuck said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just following orders"

Without another word, they all sped off toward Jenny's house, the tension still thick in the air.

Meanwhile...

This was not good.

The Silver Shell now stood in the ruins of the Wakeman house. Items were strewn everywhere and there was no sign of Miss Wakeman anywhere.

Silver Shell knew the pattern of attack; this was the work of the enemy, the ultimate enemy. The Overlords agents had been here, and by the looks of it, there had been a lot of them.

"What now?" he asked to no one in particular.

Without Miss Wakeman's help, they had little of no hope of ever returning home. The Silver Shell was considering if that would be a bad thing, when he heard the sounds of the others arriving.

"What happened here?!?!" Jenny screamed, gazing at the chaos as she walked into the room with the others.

"I am afraid that our enemies got a hold of your mother before we did, Jenny" Silver Shell said, feeling like he had let her down.

"WHAT! We have to go after them!" Jenny said, beginning to panic.

Tuck gave the Silver Shell a quick review of the incident over Tremorton, then Silver Shell talked to Jenny.

"Calm down Jenny, blowing up won't help. There is nothing we can do just yet, I'm afraid."

XJ-6 looked on uncaring, while Tuck looked at Jenny with concern on his face.

"Ok, that does it" Jenny said, getting right up into Silver Shells face "I'm tired of being kept in the dark, Your gonna tell me everything, right now!"

The Silver Shell paused for a moment, took a deep breath, then said, "Alright, sit down, I'll tell you all you need to know"

(And now, flashback time)

"It began five years ago, everything was just as it should be, a world much like your own. Then one day, a massive armada appeared in high earth orbit. There were over 100'000 ships, including a command ship longer than the entire state of Texas. For three days, they simply stood there, circling the earth. Then, out of the blue, they attacked, and a global invasion began. They were known as the Scourge, a name they lived up to.

People ran through New York as the strange 20-foot squid-shaped ships fly over where city, blasting everything in there path with there array of weapons. A military force groups together from the reconstructed World Trade Center, and launch a counter assault, but as they fall one by one, it is obvious that they are outgunned and outnumbered.

Then a massive Scourge warship, longer than the entire city, covered in massive weapons and armor, flies over the chaos, and starts sending out still more of the strange squid-shaped ships. The entire city was taken in hours.

The Shell continued. "The war went on for months, and we were losing. XJ-9 was the only weapon with a very high level of power against this force. Then about 5 months into the war..."

The whole room went silent, no one having the strength to say the truth.

XJ-6 decided to be blunt about it. "XJ-9 switched sided, Killed Miss Wakeman, and slaughtered people by the hundreds"

Jenny froze in horror, the whole room fell dead silent, and not a single word was said for quite a while.

Jenny finally found her voice "Why? Why would I do that?"

"We don't know" Tuck said, glad to have the ice broken "You just went off one day."

Silver Shell decided to continue the story, to keep everyone mind off this "the thing was, before that day, the mysterious leader of the scourge known only as the Overlord could not be traced, he never stayed in one place, and no one ever saw him."

"Then one day, the same day of Miss Wakeman's death, a structure appeared in the heart of Tremorton made out of vile and twisting metal. We are not sure, but we believe that the Overlord is inside, and that he is stuck there because of something Nora did before her death, something they were trying to stop"

Jenny thought about that, and it made sense. Her mom would have gone down fighting like that.

Thinking about her mom brought Jenny back to the present. "Did the Cluster have anything to do with this?" she asked.

"I'm coming to that, hold on" The Silver Shell said "after that, the other XJs, already reactivated for the earths protection, were upgraded for combat. After that, all the nations, many of their capitals having been destroyed, united under one banner: the resistance. Culture, religion, all was secondary to our own survival, and we knew it."

"The fight was out in the open very little, gorilla warfare being our preference. A lot of things happened in that time, from Tuck joining us about 3 years ago, to Brads death, to the near extermination of the XJ line." He said with a sad tone.

"Ironically, one of our major allies in the war was Vexus and her Cluster"

"WHAT? The Cluster? But they are my worst foes! How could the Scourge fight against them?" Jenny asked, now very confused.

Silver Shell took a deep breath and continued "Most of the Cluster joined us out of necessity, their attempts to reason with the Scourge failed, and they two were assaulted. They had no choice bout to help, and while we held up the fort on earth, the cluster drew there attention into space. The Cluster was eventually destroyed, a little less then a year ago, with the destruction of Cluster Prime. Vexus is missing, presumed dead"

"The destruction of...you mean they destroyed an entire PLANET?" Jenny said, shocked at the mere concept of such horror. She had hated the Cluster, but killing off an entire planet was beyond anything she could imagine.

"Yes" Shell said "there mother ship has a weapon that can do that, we believe that the only reason they have not is because there Overlord cannot leave the planet"

Silver Shell paused, then said "Not that they did not try to harm us, the most notable was about two years ago, when they scorched the atmosphere. The resulting fire storm hurt us both, and since then the sky has been blood red, and not a single plant can grow on it's own" he said.

"Our situation has become increasingly despite, and there were recent rumors of a secret Scourge project to cross into another world. I guess we know it's true now."

Jenny simply stared into space, taking in all that she had heard. A whole new world, plagued by a great enemy, where SHE was their greatest foe.

"So, why are you guys here?" Jenny asked.

Tuck cut in, wanting some attention "We were on a mission to confirm the rumors of a dimensional shifting device here, we were just about to fight those robots you saw, when there was this weird energy pattern on my scanner, then poof, here we are." He finnished

Jenny though for a moment, then heard XJ-6 say from the other room "So, when would you guys like to head home?"

Meanwhile...

Brad was walking home, thinking about what had been a nice day had ended on such a sour note.

He was walking along an empty street, when it happens.

"Ugh, my head" he said as a splitting headache and dizziness took him. He tried to shake it off, but it only got worse, until he was down on his knees in pain. As he passed out, the last thing he remembered was seeing a red sky...

To be continued...

_------------------_

_Well, that was interesting, are you all glad to know the truth now?_

_Hold on, because I'm not done yet!_


	12. The Shift

_I LIVE!_

_I Hate to have left you for so long, I'v just had alot of shit on my plate. Won't bore you with the detales._

_On to reviews!_

Kojin-san

DUDE! sounds like your killing brad off just to add a little chaotic key to some of the heroe's snaping eh? well, I shall continue reading!!

(Jumps into the space/time continuum)

_Yea, you keep telling yourself that. I don't just kill off characters like that, I'd have made it much more dramatic._

hyper monkey

...Whoa...clusters helping? That's oxymoron right there! They wanted to take over the human race and here they are ...protecting them...very oxymoron but anyways there goes all of my questions and stuff...ok I have to run now because Sheldon is in his Silver Shell outfit...and he's tracking me down...yeah bye! ::runs for dear life as Silver Shell fly's after me shooting with a laser gun::

_Yea, it is unusual to have the cluster help, but I wanted to set up the idea that the scourge was worse then them, makes them seem scary._

IEATfood

Hey it's me 'hot choc' I'm reading your fic I'd have read it earlier but I didn't have the time...  
it's very good I've already started initial sketches of alternate Tuck

I saw it; it rocked beyond anything I could have ever hoped for. I imagined the gloves and boots being bigger, and the helmet being more V shaped, but other than that it's all good.

_Well, that's all. Enjoy this chapter._

_------------------_

"What do you mean go home?" Silver Shell asked. "We can't head back until we..."

"Get the plans for the shifting device, which happen to be right here" XJ-6 stated from the other room.

Quickly, they all moved in, and saw the blueprints on the screen for a device of some sort.

"How did THAT get here?" Tuck asked, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, a recent file had it inside, but most of the data was deleted. This is all that's left. XJ-6 said with a note of disappointment, she had expected something more. "I can re-calibrate my recall device to take us home, but it will be a while before we can travel freely between worlds." She said.

"Right" said the Silver Shell, "we best head back to central command and tell them all we know, set the device up!" he ordered.

"Wait..." Jenny asked, "What's a recall device?"

"A one-way teleporting device that takes you instantly to a base with a teleport receiving point, we use it for quick escapes." Tuck said, seemingly proud that he knew so much. "It's actually made with cluster tech"

"Ready in a few minutes" XJ-6 said.

"Look" Jenny said "You guys need to take me with you"

All three figures were silent, and then XJ-6 cut in "NO WAY! We have enough trouble with one of you!" she practically screamed, "Besides, this is none of your business!"

That was the last straw, Jenny had put up with this girl's rude attitude, here distrust, even her all-out hostile attitude, but she was not going to put up with THAT!

"It is my business! There's an evil empire out there that could come here and wreck my world, and they have my mom!" she shot back at her "And I'm going, no matter how much you don't like it!"

There was a long pause, while everyone else looked on in shock.

Then to everyone else's surprise, Silver Shell started laughing.

"Well" He said after he was done "I really missed that attitude, looks like I have no choice, you can come."

Tuck grinned, happy to have Jenny along. XJ-6, however, was not so happy.

"WHAT? But sir, she..."

"Is coming with us, and that's that" Silver Shell said, a note of finality in his voice. "Take us back"

XJ-6 and Silver Shell glared at each other for a moment, then 6 backed down. She grumbled, and pressed a few buttons on her wrist.

Suddenly, a humming filled the air, and everything seemed to grow brighter. To an observer, it would look like the figures were turning into solid light.

Finally, there was a blue flash, and they were gone.

Leaving nothing but an empty house behind, with a single suspicious bug on the wall. It activated its robotic wings, and flew off. Its master would be pleased with its report.

Meanwhile...

"What's WRONG with him?" Tuck cried as the doctors examined the limp form of Brad. They had rushed him the hospital as soon as they found him.

Tucks mom and dad were away an a business trip, and there cell phone was not working, but Tuck had gotten the phone call, and came right down.

Now they were running all kinds of tests on him, while Tuck, practically in tears, watched from the sidelines.

Finally, a doctor came out to him.

"I'm sorry" he said "but he's in a coma"

"What? How? Why did this happen?" Tuck asked, his face full of sorrow.

The doctor shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Don't know, it's like his mind just left him..."

"What?" Tuck said "But...where is his mind?"

Meanwhile...

High in orbit around the scorched world below, the scourge fleet rested. Like a predator watching it's prey.

Within the hull of a particularly large ship, a new story was about to unfold...

"All systems online, wake up" a voice said.

A robot opened his eyes to take in all that surrounded him. It looked like a place for new robot designs, pieces and parts on tables everywhere, and half-finished robots stood here and there.

Before him, a strange orb floated, four arms coming out of his sides, and a robotic eye in the center was focusing on him. It spoke in the same voice he had heard before. "You are now fully operational."

"I am SC-12843, your creator and master. You owe your allegiance to the great scourge empire first, myself second, and no one third."

"You are Experimental Self-Aware Combat robot-5, the SACR-5. Codenamed: Epsilon" SC-12843 stated, "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir" Epsilon resonded in a strange voice, like a person with a deep voice speeking through a microphone. Then something odd happend in his mind, he started to think...

_I'm a robot? Of course I am, why wouldentI be?. It just felt like...for a moment...like something was wrong with that._

"Excellent. I need to go tell the captain that you're done. Feel free to move about, but don't leave this room." SC said in his hi-pitched voice. He then hovered out of the room through a door that apparently opened itself, his multiple arms folded under him.

Finally by himself, Epsilon got a chance to examen his body.

His legs apperently bent bacwards instead of forwards, and ended in two massive feet. His upper torso was a bit oval shaped, and seemed to be able to move 360 degrees independently of his lower torso. His arms semmes rather long, and his left one ended in a gun of some sort. He was adorned with sholder pads, and his entire body was colored red and silver. Through a reflective piece of mettal, he saw his face. It was a slightly dome-shaped disk, with two green eyes looking out from it. There was no visible mouth, or any other features.

He looked around, and saw that he was standing on a platform with equitment to both sides. They looked perfect for makeing a robot.

After a few moments of dificulty, Epsilon managed to move himself around on his own, and did a few laps around the room to make shure he had it right.

Not haveing anything eltse to do, he stood and waited for his master to return.

While he did so, his mind wanderd. It did not have far to go, he had only existed for a few minets, and he knew so little.

Epsilon thought about his master...what the scorge empire was...why he had been made...Jenny...

_Wait, who was Jenny?_

Epsilon concintrated with all his might, but he could remember nothing. He wonderd where that name had come from.

Before he could think about this any more, SC-12843 returned through the door.

"Ah! I see you're up and about!" he stated

"That's good, because the captain wants you combat trained right away!"

To be continued…

_------------------_

_Well, that went well, looks like it's picking up now._

_Send those reviews, or I'll wait another 3 weeks to update. You know I'll do it, too!_


	13. The Lesson

_S been awhile...ok, I kept telling myself I'd "Do it in a few more days." And a few more days never came. I'm not gonna make excuses, I'll just pick up where I left off._

_------------------_

Jenny entered the new world with 12 guns pointed at her face. She had apparently a large reputation.

"Stand down men, this is not who you think it is." The Silver Shell barked.

The solders, dressed similarly to Tuck, lowered the rifles they had been holding after a moment. They still watches her apprehensively though.

They were standing on a platform with strange patterns on the floor. The walls were generally a smooth white pattern, with light coming from the ceiling, with black floors.

One solder spoke up. "Sir, with all due respect, this is THE XJ-9, the killing robot that..."

The Silver Shell barked back at him. "I KNOW what your talking about, and this is not her...at least not the same one. Lets just say that our theory about other dimensions...is no longer a theory."

"Err, yes. The council will want a debriefing on the situation. They are in the meeting room."

They had a short moment to relax, in which Tuck took off his helmet and backpack, setting them off to the side.

"Man, I was roasting in that thing!" Tuck stated.

After a quick look over for hidden devices on Jenny, they were ushered into a great room, with 9 seats facing them. Most of the people seated there were elder looking, although some were rather young. One African American even looked like...

"Brit!"

It did in fact look like her, although she was older now, and looked to be in her mid-20s. her right eye had been replaced with a cybernetic one, and she now bore the figure of a mature woman, the kind that Jenny had only seen in magazines.

Brit glared back at her, then after a moment, an elderly man in the center seat spoke up. "We watched your arrival as you recalled back here. The Silver Shells judgment is trusted here, so you have our trust for the moment, but we would still like to hear the whole story about your world, and what happened there."

And so they told them, Tuck, Silver Shell, XJ-6, and filially Jenny, all told of the other world. Jennie's account got the most attention. They kept asking for specific bits of information about her world, and the people in it. A great deal of whisper came at some of her words.

After they were done, the man at the head of the counsel spoke again. "So, the Overlords plans involve you mother, and the other world. This is dire news indeed, we assumed that we were there only target."

"I will issue an order for our men not to harm you, but we will need a way to tell you apart from your...counterpart. Head down to the outfitters on the 3rd floor when we are done here."

He paused a moment, then added. "Miss XJ, you may not know this, but you are in for a long haul. Even with your help, this will not be an easy fight. It is unlikely that you will return home anytime soon."

The words had meaning to Jenny, but she had a job to do. Her mom was counting on her to make a rescue, and there were people here who needed her help.

"You are dismissed." He finished. Silver Shell and XJ-6 headed off to who know where, while Tuck motioned Jenny to follow him into an elevator.

Once inside, the elevator enclosed all around them. It had the same black and white patterns as all the building around here, and it smoothly descended downward.

"So Jenny..." Tuck said while they waited to reach bottom. "Am I around in your world?"

After a pause, Jenny spoke "Yea, your just a kid at this point, in fact it's kind of surprising to see you all grown up like this."

Tuck blushed a bit and scratched the back of his head. "It's rather surprising to see you again, Jenny. I'm glad to have you back."

"It's good to be back, Tuck. It's good to be back..."

Meanwhile...

SC-12843 Barked out his command "Epsilon! Attack!"

And attack he did, letting loose a barrage of laser fire on the moving targets set before him. He almost at once saw patters in the targets movements, and after a short time, he could predict exactly where they were going to be.

The targets, not much more than simple hover-droids, small floating orbs, were flying around the room where Epsilon had been created.

His systems were somehow calibrating themselves, so he got better with every shot he took.

SC-12843 took notice of this, and commented. "YES! Just like I planned it! Your already better than a common drone, and soon you will be one of the greatest warriors ever! " He stated with joy.

At that moment, the last drone was blasted away. Epsilon lowered his weapon, having no more objects to shoot.

"Very good Epsilon. I think it's time to develop that mind of yours a bit more. Explore the ship and it's systems to your satisfaction."

"Yes sir" Epsilon responded with a mechanical buzz. After a moment of uncertainty, Epsilon walked through the door of the room where he had spent his entire short life so far. He was standing in a hallway, mechanical designs were everywhere along the walls. Robots of all shapes and sizes moved about here and there.

Epsilon felt rather lost, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he moved down the corridor to the left.

From what he gathered in the next few hours of searching the area, he was on a medium sized military ship in orbit around a planet called earth.

After a while, he entered a vast room with hundreds of computer terminals. The monitors were attached to a massive central hub, and interface ports line in between the monitors.

Epsilon stepped forward and plugged himself into a nearby terminal. It was time to learn allot more.

Meanwhile...

"Man Jenny, you look so cool!" Tuck exclaimed, seeing the changes she had undergone. Jenny could not help but agree.

Although she had no REAL changes, as per her request, they had decided to give her a paint job to set her apart from her 'other' self. After a few suggestions, they had decided on the flame patterns she had put on once before, giving her body a similar texture to a racecar.

"I know what you mean, Tuck. I missed this look." Jenny said, checking over the freshly dried paint. "So, what do I do now?"

Tuck paused for a moment, rubbing his chin, and spoke. "I would imagine you take it easy for a while, learn some stuff about us, and try to prepare yourself for a fight." He then added with a smirk. "You never know when one is going to come up."

Jenny nodded, then said "So...where do I stay?"

Tuck slapped his forehead, and then said, "Oi, I keep forgetting you don't know your way around here. Come with me Jenny, I'll show you the way."

They turned toward a hallway, and walked down it, side by side. Tuck occasionally glancing at Jenny.

"So Jenny..." Tuck suddenly cut in. "You DO know how 'hot' you look with that paint job, don't you?"

Jenny saw the joke, but still blushed a little. "Tuck! Your terrible!"

Tuck smirked at her and added, "You never could appreciate a good joke, Jenny."

Jenny raised an eyebrow and answered, "Oh, so what was the GOOD joke?"

Tuck made an overdramatic gesture of pain in his chest, and said "Argh! You got me, right here!"

They both laughed, happy to be in each other's company, and continued onward.

Meanwhile...

The dark figure stood over a control panel. Reading the display. His sinister form writhed with the flow of the many cables and wires attached to him.

#So...Jenny has come to this world to save her dear mother...excellent.#

He turned, facing the other way. #Those fools will never see what I have planned...until it is too late...#

To be continued…

_Well...sorry if it was too short..._

_I'm gonna go take a nap now, R&R!_


End file.
